Cartoon to Canvas: Behind the Scenes with Ellannah Sadkin

British-born New York artist Ellannah Sadkin recently came out of a three month residency in the cold metropolis of Detroit with Red Bull House of Art. Her paintings feel at once eerily familiar and foreign. The bold abstract paintings borrow line and shape from childhood cartoon characters we have all come to know, using their shapes to explore emotions in her own psyche.

Although not formally trained, Ellannah has been surrounded creative powerhouses her whole life. Her father was the late Alex Sadkin, a successful music producer that worked largely with Grace Jones, Bob Marley, James Brown and Duran Duran to name a few (in fact Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran is her godfather), and the artist also studied under the tutelage of two big name artists – KAWS and Ben Eine, who helped shape her studio practice.

But despite these notable names that surround her, Ellannah has decided to make her own path. She secluded herself in a cabin in Woodstock for nearly three years to focus on perfecting a body of paintings, some of which are up for grabs here at Rise Art. Read on to meet the quiet artist behind the lurid abstract paintings.

You’ve said that your work uses cartoon imagery to convey psychological states of mind. Can you explain?

I spend a lot of time researching the mind and trying to figure out why humans act the way we do. We all know what is right and wrong, yet we all have to deal with past experiences, trauma and anxiety that make the picture fuzzy. I feel like cartooning is an effective way of reducing the static in the picture. In cartoons what’s right and wrong is obvious and I have always found that comforting.

I go through periods of free flow and stagnation like many other artists. If I don’t feel like it, nothing good comes out. If I do, it's like you wake up with a superpower. My energy and mood have a big impact on my work, I need to be in the right state of mind. Routine is very important and I lose my footing without it. It's also important to me to have space and time alone to make art - I cannot work in a busy environment.

You recently completed a residency at the Red Bull House of Art in Detroit. What was it like?

It was really tough trying to work in a busy environment. I’m usually in a cabin in the mountains where I don’t see people for months. It’s been a hard transition. But the residency inspired me to make soft sculpture, which is something which I never planned on but have always been drawn to.

Which artists influence you?

I like the Chapman Brothers a lot, and at the moment I'm mostly appreciating Polly Apflebaum, Paul Kremer, Hermmann Nitsch, Franz Ackermann. I am inspired by a lot of cartoonists such as Chuck Close. My grandfather was a caricaturist and painter. I think I naturally inherited a love of line and movement. That is what initially attracted me to graffiti.

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About The Author

Lori Zimmer is a writer and curator who has evolved along side the public art/graffiti community. S…

Lori Zimmer is a writer and curator who has evolved along side the public art/graffiti community. She is the creator of popular blog Art Nerd New York, an art history guide to New York City that also provides off beat access to public art, exhibitions and artists’ studios. Her first book, The Art of Cardboard: Big Ideas for Creativity, Collaboration, Storytelling and Reuse was published in 2015, her second, The Art of Spray Paint: Inspirations and Techniques from Masters of Aerosol is due out in early 2017, both by Rockport Publishers.

Since 2009, Lori has been working actively in the art world on many facets, from writing to curatorial projects to advising artists and event planning. Known for mounting exhibitions that often have a narrative thread, she has curated projects for organisations like Times Square Arts, SCOPE Art Show in Miami and New York, and for the ACT/ART committee for the White House in Washington, DC. Zimmer resides in New York City, but travels every chance she gets, visiting artists and galleries across the world.